Old Rare Rides

I am really into the old rare rides. But My 3 favs are Eyerly Fly-O-Plane,Hrubetz Spitfire,& Chance Turbo. would someone please send me info on where a Turbo or a Spitfire is. like in a carnival or a park. And does anyone know if there are even any Spitfires left?

I have never seen anything but a picture of the Spitfire, so I can't help you there. I did ride a Fly-O-Plane at Geauga Lake back in the 1980's, but the only known working model in the US is at Lake Winnepesaukah down in Georgia. It is still listed on their rides page, but it doesn't have a link associated with it so I do not know if it is still running. Keep in mind this is the rarest of all the Eyerly rides, so finding one, if any, will be difficult. As for the Chance Turbo, I ran across this back in the 1970's at the Cuyahoga County Fair near Cleveland, OH. I was way to little to ride it then, but always wondered about it. I don't remember how or where I stumbled across this site but it has several pictures of the the Turbo in action, and checking out the entire site will reveal the Turbo's predicessor, Radar, along with a number of other interesting rides like the Rok'N'Rol and the Swingin' Gym. Again, keep in mind that Chance only made 23 Turbo's and it seems that one is is China, maybe 1 left in Australia, and according to the messages on that site there are some sitting around in the US but none are running.

Tom

The last known Turbo in the USA was the one Conneaut Lake bought from Old Indiana. I'd still like to know what Conneaut Lake did with the Turbo. Discussions on this have resulted in no info over the past years. Any updates on this?

Being a "rare-flat-ride-junkie" myself, I am sure I would've heard of any operating Spitfire. There is some great video out there showing the ride though but the Fly-O-Plane seemed to have more controls and acrobats. I know I have some video of the Lake Winnie FlyO somewhere. I need to dig that up. :)

If you mind me saying, my favorite flat from the past is a Cuddle Up. A 5-wheel version like Dorney had. Still hoping that past rumors come true on that.

Conneaut no longer has the Turbo.

I think we determined that already. The question was "what did they do with it?"

Odds are it's one of two things, either it was cut up, or it went south of the border.

The Fly-O-Plane at Lake Winnepesaukah is running. They sent it out last year or the year before to be refurbished.

Man I love old and forceful Flats. Even new ones if their developed. I still don't know why there isn't many of the new (Based on orriginal Flying Scooters) Like Idlewild got being purchased.Parks are about THRILL, Theres not a lot of park instalations besides maybe the Deleriums and launch drop towers being bought these days

That old ride brake operated at Williams Grove was insane. Lakemont has one and it has the brake but they do not operate it like that. Its program slows and speeds it and its not even close.

.Chuck, sucker for a great set of dodgems, whips, forcefull Himalayas, Catapilars, Paratroopers on a hillside (THANKS DORNEY FOR REMOVING YOURS) and when I find it I'll post a link to a whiplike ride I found thats in the UK. Here it is, Its called a Skid and its like a whip only circular and has foot pedals to control how forceful the whip action is. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SsXeeYRWkEw

Didn't the Puyallap fair have a Turbo as recently as the mid 90s? Where'd that one end up?

Chuck... are you ok?^^

RCMAC said:Chuck... are you ok?^^

Ask Coasterqueen

Two of you meet up for lunch?

Thanks for the vid of the Skid, Chuck. I love those and the Waltzers, too. I've said this before,.but I dont think I've ever seen or heard of a Waltzer operating in the US, have you?

I love Whips too. We used to have one at Chain of Rocks that was a blast. That park had a lot of vintage flats, but I had no idea where they went.

They had something called the Rocket that looked like a Bayern Curve, but was 3 or 4 times bigger. Haven't seen anything like it since the park closed.

Here's your Rocket, also known as Moon Rocket.

http://www.fairart.co.uk/photogallery1.htm

These examples are covered, obviously, but the ones I remember seeing as a kid were open on the top. The last one I saw operating was at Fantasy Farm near Middletown Oh.

Edited for a better pic- this is more like the versions we would see.

http://www.rmmridemodels.com/vintage/pages/moon_rocket.htm

WOW! I want to ride Skid! That looks really fun! (I'd tell the creepy guy to get off of my car though...lol) Thanks for sharing!

Or you could go ride Rye's Whip along with a host of other neat rides and darkrides :)http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wWERe-sSjLQ&feature=channel_page

RCMAC said: I love those and the Waltzers, too. I've said this before,.but I dont think I've ever seen or heard of a Waltzer operating in the US, have you?

I think Morey's Piers has a Waltzer but I'm not positive.

I never used to realize how uncommon Whips are. I've been riding the one at Dorney my entire life. I've been riding the ones at Knoebles and Hershey for years as well (even though Hershey has the new version). I also rode the long gone ones at Nay Aug and Rocky Glen. Angela Park might have had one too but I can't remember back that far. I just always thought of them as a standard flat.

At one time they were.Whips were a staple of every park , and a great many large carnivals for years. They started disappearing in the late 1950's, when higher capacity flat rides with smaller footprints started to appear.

I remember riding a kiddie Whip at Hershey back in the early 80s. I believe they also had a standard Whip, which was removed years later (not the one they have now, obviously). I also remember riding one at Trimper's in Ocean City, MD, but I think the only ones I've seen since are Hershey's newer model and Dorney's.

Pennsylvania is Whip headquarters. Kennywood, Idlewild, Dorney, Hersheypark and Knoebels all have them. Hershey's is the only new model I believe. I could be wrong, wouldn't be the first time. There isn't a Whip at Trimpers anymore, just the Kiddie Whip.